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Earlier this month, The Walt Disney Company, better known as Disney, announced it is restructuring itself and that includes laying off 7,000 employees or 3 per cent of its workforce. The company also announced reorganisation into three sections: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. All this follows Bob Iger getting reinstated as the CEO in November last year, replacing Bob Chapek, a Disney veteran who was removed from the position after dismal earnings reports and controversies that plagued his tenure. Iger, CEO from 2005 to 2020, led the company as it expanded aggressively by acquiring valuable (in terms of popular appeal and expected returns) IPs like Pixar, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Marvel Entertainment. 

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Oh, he also spearheaded the negotiations to acquire 20th Century Fox. Under his leadership, the company became a behemoth. In 2019, the heydays, the studio released an incredible seven movies that surpassed the $1 billion dollar mark. This was domination on an unprecedented scale.

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Signs of concern at Disney

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But since Iger left in 2020, there have been signs of trouble at the company. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie and TV productions, and the theatrical film experience all but died. This allowed Netflix, the market leader in streaming, to release already-produced shows and movies and gain millions more subscribers.

Also Read: Disney next in line for layoffs, to cut 7,000 jobs in cost-saving efforts

Amusing digression: It is interesting that Iger left Disney in February 2020, a month before the pandemic really came into effect. Not to be a conspiracy theorist or anything, but did he know something we don't?

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Anyway, Chapek, who had been at Disney for more than a quarter of a century before being handed the reins, became the man in charge. Call his bad luck or just fate, Disney, like every film studio, suffered when the cinema halls were shuttered by governments around the world in the pandemic-induced lockdown. Many intended-for-theatre movies like Mulan were sent instead to Disney+ in order to strengthen the fledgling streaming service. Then China banned Hollywood movies from releasing in the country, though it did not say it outright (the country has become friendly to American cinema again this year, though). 

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Bob Chapek's dismissal and the uncertain future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

While many Disney movies continued to do decently, considering the enduring concerns over COVID-19 infection among people, Disney did suffer losses. By the time Chapek's removal neared, the Disney stock had descended to a multi-year low. The quarterly earnings report was even worse than expected. The costs associated with streaming, and dismal returns on the investment only added to the company's financial woes. Disney+, which many said was on course to overtake Netflix eventually in terms of subscriber base, reported a loss of 2.4 million subscriptions. In comparison, it had taken more than a decade for Netflix to lose subscribers (in April last year), and not gain. The company had also lost a large chunk of revenue from parks and experiences.

Also Read: Six things that make absolutely NO sense in Marvel movies

And the cash cow that was Marvel Cinematic Universe could no longer be relied upon to deliver. If you are generous, MCU's journey post Avengers: Endgame until now can be called mediocre. Analysts say that was due to too much expansion done too quickly. In 2021, Disney+ released five TV shows set in the MCU. The following year, three. Oh, and four MCU movies also saw the light of day in 2021, and three in 2022. This bombardment of content was clearly not appreciated by the fans, many of whom, this scribe included, thought the world of entertainment was saturated too much by Marvel and less by... everything else. 

Earlier, the interconnectedness of MCU movies used to be a fun thing. Now, it had become annoying whenever a character in a project referenced another movie or show in MCU. It was now artificial and tacky. And there's been little innovation, and almost none of the projects were worthwhile. Due to the abundance of content now, Kevin Feige, the overlord of MCU, could not have quality control over everything. And thus, MCU was suffering.

The latest entry, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is also crafted in the traditional Marvel mould — designed as per the good old formula that Feige et al perfected over the last one and a half-decade. In other words, it feels like your typical MCU movie. One can understand why the formula has survived. For it has indeed worked. But now even Feige admits it's too much and plans to slow down a bit, at least with the shows. He told Entertainment Weekly, "I do think one of the powerful aspects of being at Marvel Studios is having these films and shows hit the zeitgeist. It is harder to hit the zeitgeist when there’s so much product out there — and so much “content,” as they say, which is a word that I hate. [Laughs] But we want Marvel Studios and the MCU projects to really stand out and stand above. So, people will see that as we get further into Phases 5 and 6. The pace at which we’re putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine."

What's next for Disney and Iger?

Ever since he joined, Iger has been proactive in cutting down costs and overhauling strategies. He plans to achieve profitability in streaming by 2024. In terms of IPs, the MCU juggernaut will not stop until it is profitable for the company. And judging purely by the box office numbers, the movies in the cinematic universe remain moneymaking and this may be just a brief lull after the mega extravaganzas that were the last two Avengers movies. On the Star Wars front, several movies and TV shows are in development. With the Fox acquisition, Disney now owns James Cameron's Avatar franchise. The second film, which was released in December last year, has become the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, so we can expect Cameron will get to make as many sequels as he wants. For now, the future of the company's film business looks solid. Though one fallout of the recent losses is that the company will rely on already-popular franchises. The company recently announced Toy Story 5, Frozen 3, and Zootopia 2. With big studios already apprehensive about financing films based on original ideas, it looks like another blow to those who watch more than just tentpole films.

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